Lightning-conductor.



L. L. MAST.

LIGHTNING CONDUCTOR.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 22, 1911.

1,1 12,634. Patented Oct. 6, 1914.

ammo a wmwm I X M UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

LOUIS L. MAST, OF WEST MILTON, OHIO, ASSIGNOR TO DELBERT H. MAST, OF WEST MILTON, OHIO.

LIGHTNING-CONDUCTOR.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, LOUIS L. ldasr, a citizen of the United States, residing atlVest Milton, in the county of Miami and State of Ohio, have invented certain Improvements in LightningConductors, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to a lightning conductor wherein a tubular coupling member is secured to each end of a length of metal rod; it is in fact an improvement on, or more properly speaking, an accessory to the invention shown and described in an application filed by me December 16, 1910, Serial No. 597,682, new pending in the United States Patent Ofiice, in which a tubular cou-- pling member made of very ductile metal is adapted to be swaged on the end of a rod. In the present invention I use a coupling member substantially like the former one and secure it to the rod in substantially the same manner.

The improvement resides in placing a metal disk in the coupling member, which serves the double purpose of preventing distortion of the member when it is swa-ged on the rod, and, in the completed rod, it acts as a finish, concealing the end of the rod, which is likely to be more or less rough and uneven.

In the accompanying drawings, Figures 1 and 2 are respectively a male and female coupling member, before being secured to the rod; Fig. 3 is a disk to be inserted in the couplings; Fig. 4 is a female coupling member of a modified form; Fig. 5 is a length of lightning conductor having a coupling swaged on each end, a portion of one coupling being broken away to show the disk in place; and Fig. 6 is an end view of a coupling, showing the rod in section.

Like numerals refer to like parts throughout the several views.

The preferred form of coupling is shown in Figs. 1 and 2, the two together representing one complete coupling. \Vhile these may be made by other means and from other materials, I prefer to make them of annealed copper tubing, having the diameter of the larger part of the finished coupling. Swaging one end of the tube to reduce its size hardens the reduced portion and makes it practicable to cut the thread, while the larger part remains soft. A disk 10, whose diameter is approximately that of the interior of-the larger portion of the coupling,

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed July 22, 1911.

Patented Oct. 6, 1914. Serial No. 640,025.

is inserted in the coupling member before the latter is placed upon the rod 11. The disk, abutting the shoulder 12 which is formed by reducing the tube, is itself abutted by the end of the rod; the large part of the coupling is then swaged to the rod as in Figs. 5 and 6.

The advantages of the above described construction are many, among which: the disk insures that the coupling member will not become distorted by the swaging process; after the coupling is in place, the disk hides the rough end of the rod; the ductility of the large end of the coupling facilitates swaging it to the rod and insures a good mechanical and electrical connection between the rod and the coupling.

Obviously, the foregoing is but one of many ways in which the coupling may be made and attached to a red.

Fig. 4 shows a coupling member in which the shoulder 12 is formed by enlarging a portion of the interior of the tube of which the member is made. As the coupling may be attached to the rod by other means than swaging, it may be made of other material than one adapted to be swaged; but as before, the disk hides the unsightly end of the rod.

Having shown and described the preferred form of construction, and one modification thereof, and having indicated that other modifications are possible. it is to be understood that the claims which follow are not to be limited in their scope to the specific constructions shown.

What I claim is as follows:

1. A lightning conductor comprising in combination: a rod; a tubular coupling member; a transverse partition composed of a separate piece of material, located in and dividing said coupling member into approximately equal parts, the end of the rod being secured in one of said parts with the walls of said part in actual contact with the rod; and means for holding the partition in place in the coupling member.

2. A lightning conductor, comprising in combination: a rod; a tubular coupling member secured to the rod, a portion of the interior of said member being larger in diameter than the remainder of its interior, said portion of larger diameter being that which is in contact with the rod; and a transversely disposed member located in said larger portion of the coupling member,

the diameter of said transverse member being greater than that of the smaller portion of the coupling member.

'3. A lightning conductor, comprising in combination: a rod; a tubular coupling member secured thereto With a portion of said member projecting beyond the end of the rod, said projecting portion being of smaller diameter than the portion which is secured to the rod; and a transversely disposed member located in the larger portion of the coupling member, in juxtaposition to the end of the rod, said transverse member being too large to pass through the smaller portion of the coupling member.

a. A lightning conductor, comprising in combination: a rod; a cylindrical tubular Vcoupling member secured thereto With a portion of its length projecting beyond the end of the rod, said projecting; portion having a smaller internal diameter than the portion on the rod, thereby forming a shoulder at the point of changed-n diameters; and

a disk, larger in diameter than the smaller portion of the coupling member, confined between said shoulder and the end of the rod.

5. A lightning conductor, comprising in combination: a rod; a cylindrical tubular coupling member secured thereto with a portion of its length projecting beyond the end of the rod, said projecting portion having a smaller internal diameter than the portion on the rod, thereby forming a shoulder at the point of change in diameters; a disk, larger in diameter than the smaller portion of the coupling member, confined between said shoulder and the end of the rod; and a screw thread carried by said projjecting member and adapted to connect to a complementarily threaded coupling mem ber on another rod'.

LOUIS L. MAST. lVitnesses v NETTIE Smns, G. H. KRUGER.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissionerof, Eatents,

Washington, 11.0. 

